Metroid: Last Breath
by GraniteJJ
Summary: War is on the horizon. Galactic Federation friendly planets are being systematically wiped out. Something sinister is going on behind the scenes, and the enemies are not who they seem to be.


**Metroid – Last Breath**

_Author's Notes_

_Welcome to my first fan fiction. This story will feature a wide majority of Nintendo created characters from the Metroid universe, with the inclusion of several original characters for the purposes of the plot-line._

_This story is meant to be worked into the Metroid timeline at any point after Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, presumably occurring before Super Metroid or Metroid: Fusion._

_I've rated the entire work Mature - for now - just so that I have the freedom to go into whatever realms I feel is necessary to complete the story without offending any of the readership._

_The prologue is quite brief, but it is merely a short establishing point for the story. Subsequent chapters will increase in length. As such, the story will be a fairly substantial read, so, I hope you like it. Enjoy._

_- Granite_

**Prologue**

Distant stars flickered in an infinite sea of black as Samus Aran's gunship drifted silently towards its destination. Three days ago, she had received an encrypted data burst from Galactic Federation headquarters insisting she rendezvous with their newest flagship, _The Ouranos_, in high orbit above the planet Gaia – a new human settlement.

Reports had indicated Gaia was resource rich, providing all Galactic Federation planets with enough metal, fuel, and agricultural products to thrive for hundreds of years, and more importantly, provide adequate defense against escalating Space Pirate assaults.

Although reports she had read on the new settlement were interesting, and would ensure a prolonged survival of the human race, it was not her foremost concern. Over the past two weeks (Galactic Standard Time), nineteen Federation agricultural outposts had been pillaged and destroyed.

Each attack was completed in approximately half an hour, at which point all offending ships and troops would depart and execute a final orbital strike designed to decimate the entire region. At the time of the most recent report, the Federation was citing a loss of ten corn plantations used to manufacture methane gas for planetary vehicles, five yeast manufacturing outposts and four outposts designed for the rearing and harvesting of cattle.

The recent attacks had led Galactic Federation's Ministry of Defense to issue a bulletin to all available troops in the area to prepare for a counter-offensive against the aggressors. Samus Aran had received the request in the form of a bounty from a Lt. Col. Frank Buchanan of the Galactic Federation Marine Corps, insisting on Samus' help in this Federation affair.

The conclusion of the bounty had indicated that the aggressor in these assaults was as yet unknown, although the Galactic Federation Bureau of Intelligence suspected Space Pirate involvement. The possibility of quashing another Space Pirate initiative was greatly appealing to the young bounty hunter, as she felt compelled to see the end of their evil brood. She knew that the past was dead and buried, but that could not fully restrain her hatred for their kind.

The past was dead and buried. Dead and buried.

Not forgotten though.

Activating the autopilot, Samus Aran settled in a twenty-two hour session of reading accounts of the nineteen agricultural assaults, as well as corresponding Galactic Federation news documents. Although she would have greatly desired rest, there was something about space that forbade it.

Outside her gunship, the universe was cold and disenchanting. It was silent; the stars and planets that drifted around her made not even the slightest whisper. Samus had become accustomed to the only noises of space being the gentle and methodical chirping of her various data displays, as well as the noise of her own breathing.

To sleep in such awkward conditions would be too uncomfortable. It was for this reason that Samus had, long ago, established a brief refuge from the silence of space. Salvaging pieces of Space Pirate frigates and old Galactic Federation facilities, Samus Aran had been able to establish a subterranean home on a former Chozo homeworld where she could live amidst the memories of her old life.

As she reflected on it, it seemed strange that she would prefer the ghosts of the past to the silence of space.

Her gunship flew onward.


End file.
